The future?
I wish I knew what to say in the wake of the past week in US soccer.
I think as a fan of the game in general, and someone who hopes for the highest possible standard from the clubs I support, this past week has been a waking nightmare. Everywhere I look, I see our colleagues blogging about what to do to fix the US Men’s National Team. All the suggestions thrown out are decent ideas, they all seem to be fairly well thought out and well reasoned. Unfortunately, they all involve current players or players who are on the fringes of Bob Bradley’s team. We’ve written several pieces regarding the state of the team. This team causes more hand-wringing and angst amongst it’s supporters than most national clubs.
Supporters of the United States Men’s team are a hardcore lot. They know the team inside and out. They can quote chapter and verse regarding scores, Bob Bradley’s tactics, how Jozy is doing in Spain, where Landon should be playing his club football, and on and on. They love this team and want to see them succeed on a World-wide stage very badly.
Then things happen like this past week, and we’re shattered. We realize how far away we truly are from being a side that could contend in a World Cup. We realize how little we gain from competing in the CONCACAF region. We see national sides with true talent and flair for the game dominate and humiliate our side. It’s painful and jarring.
So, I ask. I know what my expectations are now regarding WC 2010. My expectations are that this group will earn at least one point in the Group Stages. It will obviously depend on the draw. This Confederations Cup draw was the worst possible draw that could have occurred as far as the US was concerned, and it seems inconceivable now that either Italy or Egypt will get turfed out and not be able to play in the semi-finals. The Italy-Egypt match from Thursday was one of the best-played 1-nil’s you can see in a national team scenario. Still, the US has been terrible. There is no other way to describe it. I would have expected a LOT more from this group. But I want to know. What do YOU expect from them? What do you think is realistic for this team and group of players moving forward into WC 2010?
Group A in the Confed Cup ends today. What else is on the menu? Lots of MLS sides in action on telly for a change, and as Setanta seemingly is on life support, it continues broadcasting the Euro U-21 championships. Here’s the full schedule. All times EDT as usual.
1:15 PM – England v. Spain – UEFA Under 21 Championships – Setanta
2:30 PM – South Africa v. Spain – Confederations Cup – ESPN2
2:30 PM – Iraq v. New Zealand – Confederations Cup – Telefutura
3:00 PM – London Masters Indoor Soccer – Setanta
3:00 PM – Nacional de Montevideo v. Defensor Sporting – Uruguay – GolTV
4:30 PM – Los Angeles Galaxy v. San Jose Earthquakes – MLS – ESPN2
5:00 PM – La Equidad v. Deportes Tolima – Colombia – GolTV
7:00 PM – Deportivo Cali v. Atletico Junior – Colombia – GolTV
8:00 PM – Chicago Fire v. San Luis – SuperLiga – Telefutura
8:30 PM – Columbus Crew v. FC Dallas – MLS – FSC
9:00 PM – Flamengo v. Internacional – Brazil – GolTV
10:00 PM – Chivas USA v. Tigres – SuperLiga – Telefutura
Have a fantastic day, and don’t forget that Last Call will be at The Phoenix Pub this evening.
Maybe I’m just suffering from lowered expectations at this point, but I don’t expect much from the USMNT. I expect them to dominate CONCACAF, I expect them to be competitive with mid-level European and Asian nations, and I expect them to qualify for each World Cup – and if they’re lucky, advance to the first or second knockout round. When I only followed soccer through our national team, and we came into Germany 2006 as the #4 ranked side according to FIFA, I expected more – and we all know how that came off.
I would, however, like to see some changes with our current approach.
First, let’s start scheduling friendlies against mid-level to elite competition – AWAY from the U.S. I realize that our home friendlies are often home in name only, but we need the experience of traveling abroad in addition to dealing with hostile crowds and poor playing surfaces if we ever want to learn how to secure those vital 4 points you need to even have a chance of advancing out of the WC group stage.
Second – and I may be wrong on this one – we should be doing everything we can to mostly use players who are in league form. I realize that having Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu, Benny Feilhaber, and others out there is important, but we shouldn’t have to use substitutions on people who can’t play the full 90 minutes due to injury or fatigue – we have a difficult enough time adapting tactics with our current staff. Which leads me to the final hope for change…
Finally, we need new management. I was trying my hardest to not hop on the FIRE BOB BRADLEY bandwagon, but if we are struggling to gain even one point on the road in CONCACAF qualifying, and we’re getting emasculated by Italy and Brazil in the Confed Cup, we need to try something different. I’ll admit, I’m not well versed enough in the current crop of managers to say who should replace Bob Bradley, but wouldn’t Sigi Schmid be a useful tactician for USMNT? Hell, if we find a foreign coach with some sort of pedigree, so much the better, but we do need to change what we’re doing at some point if we want to become something more than a slightly overrated #20 in the FIFA world rankings.
Sorry for the novel, was a bit inspired by the topic after bearing witness to the Confederations Cup.
I expect the dump truck of money at Klinsmann’s door any day now.
That’s something I’d like to hear analyzed a bit more in depth: Is Jurgen Klinsmann the man to take the USMNT forward after Bob Bradley leaves his post?
Probably the most readily available of the foreign coaches, but I’m not sure what’s in his coaching resume that screams success.
Klinsy is NOT the answer, IMHO. But Sigi makes perfect sense. He has achieved significant success in MLS (although granted, we only have 6 MLS players on the USMNT roster) and is considered to be an excellent tactician.
We need someone who can figure out: (a) how to use who we have appropriately (i.e. DMB at LB is a failure that Bradley keeps trying to force); and (b) how to identify new talent that would make a positive impact on the pitch.
We need to do away with: (a) DMB; (b) Sacha (sorry, buddy!); (c) Bradley fils (enough with the nepotism!); and (d) Gooch (this one would be the most painful, but his defending is absolute pants at time)
Until we have more people playing meaningful minutes in Europe, I don’t expect anything more than what we have now.
Here’s what I expect: A 1oo% effort every time from every player. And, sadly, we haven’t seen that in a while.
As for Klinsmann, he’s had MULTIPLE opportunities to take the job and has found reasons not to each time. So even if he is THE answer, or even just a BETTER answer, he hasn’t really shown an interest in anything other than being “wooed” by the USSF.
I’m with fuse on the expectation. I expect every player to show up for a game ready to fight tooth and nail for a chance to win, whether it happens or not.
Also, the next coach MUST be someone whose spent time coaching (not necessarily as the manager) recently in a major European league. I’ve seen repeated references to players coming back from Europe and “rolling their eyes” or “snickering about” the training they are being put through by Bradley (not direct quotes, but certainly the implied derision). If the references I’ve seen are valid, then its clear that MLS-quality training is not world-class (remember how big the issue of training was at Spartak under Scolari?). Those guys know what the best expect, and its clear that the USMNT doesn’t know what that is…
I think the Klinsy ship has sailed. Someone suggested Avram Grant either here or on UF, and I don’t think that’s a bad idea. We don’t need name recognition, we need good tactics and strong man management, and Grant provides both. His stint at Chelsea was much, much better than most recognize.